The invention disclosed herein relates generally to visual feedback of command execution in computer systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to the 3D animation of electronic mail messages in response to different actions performed on the messages, such as sending, receiving, deleting, browsing, etc. Electronic mail, or email, is an increasingly popular medium used by people to communicate with one another. Using email, a person can send messages and other information electronically across a computer network to other email users. Information that can be attached to email messages includes: pictures, sound recordings, formatted documents, and virtually any other content that is in digital form. Email communication systems can be described as a multicast store-and-forward communications system, allowing users to send messages to one or more recipients at a time. Most systems can further be described as bi-directional, as they usually allow a user to both send and receive messages.
When using email to communicate, a user will typically create a message using electronic mail client software running on a computer that is connected by a network to other computers. Alternatively, the user's computer can be connected to the network on demand, such as through the use of a modem in conjunction with a dial-up account at an Internet Service Provided (ISP). In addition to the substantive contents, the message will include the network address of the intended recipient. When the user has finished composing the message, it is electronically transmitted via a network to its intended recipient. The recipient, also running email client software on a computer connected to a network, receives the message and can examine its contents.
A common computer network used to send and receive email is the Internet. The Internet allows users to exchange email with other users located throughout the world. Typically, each user will have an Internet email address that is unique to the particular user. The syntax of Internet mail addresses is username@domainname, e.g., mark@prodigy.com. A user with an email account and a computer capable of connecting to the Internet can easily be configured to send and receive messages over the network.
In many existing email client systems, a hierarchy of folders is used to manage messages. Typically, an “Inbox” holds received messages and an Outbox holds completed messages that have not yet been sent. Other standard folders include a “Sent Items” folder containing messages that have already been sent to their intended recipients, a “Deleted Items” folder holding received messages that have been deleted, and a “Draft” folder holding unfinished messages that have been saved for completion at a later time. The user is free to create additional folders to manage messages according to his or her specific needs.
The only indication to the user that an action has been performed on an email message is a change in the contents of the various folders. For example, when a user decides to view either the next or previous message in a folder, the execution of either one of these commands will simply display the next or previous message. Likewise, executing the delete message command will remove a message from the Inbox or folder that it currently resides in and move it to a Deleted Items folder. Unfortunately, current systems provide no indication as to exactly which command was indeed executed. Because the visual feedback provided by the system to indicate that commands have been executed is nearly identical, careful attention is required on the part of the user to make sure actions have been performed successfully or that the correct action was performed.
There is thus a need for a system that provides a robust indication to the user that a command has been executed. The present invention satisfies this need with a system that performs 3D visual animations representing the execution of user commands, with the animation performed on the email itself. Each command is provided with a different animation representative of the command. The visual representation of commands helps the user understand exactly which command has been executed. Additionally, the animation of the email itself supplies a new level of interactivity that helps make working with email systems less tedious and more enjoyable.